Reports

The English school system has ostensibly been moving in the direction of greater autonomy over several decades, but having been apparently taken to a new level in 2010 with the introduction of free schools and broader offer of academy status, doubts have begun to emerge as to whether these most recent reforms have made any real difference to student outcomes.

The question how should the qualifications of students be assessed is one of the most defining and important aspects of any education system. England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have a unique system of qualifications and assessment distinguished by choice and diversity.

Evidence-based policy has become somewhat of a catchphrase in politics – everybody is for it and nobody is against it. But there is evidence and there is evidence. For long, education policy has unfortunately been guided by research of poor quality, which in turn has contributed to confusion regarding what works and what does not work to generate higher pupil outcomes.